Parameters

The address of a pointer used internally to track the current position in the entry.

Return value

If the function succeeds, it returns a pointer to a null-terminated string that contains the current attribute name. If there are no more attributes to step through, it returns NULL. The session error parameter in the LDAP data structure is set to 0 in either case.

If the function fails, it returns NULL and sets the session error parameter in the LDAP data structure to the LDAP error code.

Remarks

Use
ldap_next_attribute in conjunction with
ldap_first_attribute to step through the list of attribute types returned with an entry. You can then pass these attribute names in a call to
ldap_get_values to retrieve their associated values.

A call to
ldap_next_attribute returns, through the ptr parameter, a pointer to a
BerElement structure. Pass this pointer to the next call to
ldap_next_attribute to track the current position in the list of attributes. When you have finished stepping through a list of attributes, and ptr is non-NULL, free the pointer by calling
ber_free (ptr, 0). Be aware that you must pass the second parameter as 0 (zero) in this call.

The
ldap_next_attribute function returns a pointer to an internally allocated buffer that contains the current attribute name. Free this buffer, when no longer required, by calling
ldap_memfree. Because this buffer is overwritten on the next call to either
ldap_first_attribute or
ldap_next_attribute, the user should make a copy of the attribute name if it must be preserved for processing.